HALEY'S HOME!!

We're sooooo glad that Haley came home yesterday!  If you haven't already seen the clip Curtis made at the hospital yesterday, watch it here.  Haley is one happy little girl in that flick.

We've not been to the Templeton house yet since the Great Return...wanted to give them some family time alone now that the chaos is behind them.

BUT . . . I have a couple of video clips from Haley's birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese 3 weeks ago...Celebration is always a great thing.  Birthdays and Homecomings are especially FINE reasons to celebrate. So here's to the health of two special little ladies!

 

(Top clip)  Haley (and Lexi) enjoy the cake Mom brought for the big Chuck-E-Cheese celebration.  

(Bottom clip)  Lexi is shaking with the rhythm from Chuck's "band."

Hangin' in Irvine Today

Lyn had the day off today, so we decided to spend it with Emily.  (She's normally in daycare M-F while Mom/Dad work.)  

We've taken two walks to the nearby shopping center...one to pick up a few items at Ralphs, and the other for lunch at Chick-Fil-A. 

It's been fun being with the little Princess today.  It's been nice being with Emily, too!  HAHA

She's really enjoying "communicating" with people--big smiles, happy body language, expressive eyes.  It's especially neat for me to play with her and not incite crying.  (When she was first getting to know me, I'm not so sure she was such a big fan of her Grandpa!)  But we're really tight now.  Today at Chick-Fil-A, her stroller was parked right by our table...she stared at me the whole time, cooing and grinning. Did my heart good!

While we've been here today, Lyn has been working hard at getting her Bluetooth set up.  (She wants to be ready for the "hands-free" cellphone law that goes into effect in July.)  She's pored over all these manuals trying to get everything up and running.  Everything is voice-activated, but all of her voice commands aren't delivering the expected results.  (In testing it earlier, she told the phone, "Home" and it dialed her parents in Florida!)  Hopefully, before the day is over all the kinks will be worked out.

One more little video of Emily here.  We took it during Brian's lunch hour.  It's very, VERY rough.  Just learning how to compress and join movie clips.  We'll work on smooth edits another time.  I'm just hoping maybe Jennifer can watch this before she comes home from work today.  I feel bad for her (and all working moms who want to be home with their children).  Fortunately Emily has a wonderful care-giver during the week!  That takes some of the pain out of the separation. 

Emily Brynn Johnson - 3 Months Old Today!!!!

When Emily was three MINUTES old!

(I stood outside the delivery room door and got to hear the

whole miracle unfold.  They let me come in to

take this picture as soon as they took her from Jennifer!)

An Angel Resting

(This is my favorite newborn picture of Emily.

It was taken the day she came home from the hospital)

Jennifer and Emily on Christmas Day 2007

(This is a special picture.  Jennifer is wearing pearls that

belonged to my mother who passed away in September.

Mother's name was Kathryn PEARL Isenberg Sewell.

She was born Christmas Day, 1918)

Emily TODAY - 3 months old!!!

It's Gonna Get Interesting . . .

Well,  in yet another way, this political season may be one for the record books!

(We may run out of record books!)

The 800+ Democratic "Super Delegates"

may be called in to play

if Hillary does well in Ohio and Texas.

Eight hundred Democratic Party leaders

to determine who the Democratic  Candidate will be.

They didn't like hanging chads.

Will they like the popularity contest among

Super Delegates?

Hope it doesn't get ugly!  

Of course THAT won't happen.

(wink-wink)

We just might have a "Candidate-Select" scenario on our hands!

Five Seagulls On A Sunday Morning

This morning as I was making my way from the remote parking lot (where church staff parks), I noticed a group of five seagulls flying in a graceful point formation overhead.  They were winging their way over toward Huntington Beach High School.

I couldn't help asking myself:  Why these five particular birds?  Out of all the seagulls that hang at the beach or Bolsa Chica, why this very specific quintet?  Were they . . . gullfriends?  (Sorry!)  Had they maybe decided yesterday afternoon to meet at Dukes by the pier at 6:30 this morning?  Were they part of some feathered workout group?  Had they recently hatched some gull chicks, and were attempting to work off the excess poundage?

Seriously, the idea of possible friendship among the gulls fascinated me.  Maybe I'm just sensitive to the significance of friendship now in light of Lexi & Haley's recent plight.  I can't tell you how many folks have said to me,  "If there's anything we can do to help . . ."  Kristi has commented in her blogs about the overwhelming support and encouragement their friends have been through all of this.  It's been amazing.

All that to say . . . Thanks to all of you for being there for our entire family.  Your friendship and encouragement have helped all of us--especially Curtis and Kristi--get through a rough week.  It's great to know there are folks who love us and help us "soar" above the tough times.

God bless you all!

The Best Advice: Cry Out to Jesus

One of the fine Christian vocal groups out there is THIRD DAY. On their album Wherever You Are is a song that really ministered to me today. The song is "Cry Out to Jesus."  Ordinary music, simple text.  Nevertheless, it got through to me.

 As you probably know, our family has been through a tough week with Lexi and Haley's rotavirus complications leading up to hospitalization.  I'm in no hurry for any of us (or people we know and love) to go through this again any time soon.  Make that ever!  As difficult as our week has been, I realize that others we've been around this week have had an even tougher time of it.  (Like the little boy I met in the elevator at CHOC the other day .  Huge smile on his face--which was totally covered with cancerous growths--as he proudly displayed some of his artwork.)   Yes, life can be very, very rough sometimes.   

Unfortunately, those of us in ministry are often guilty of  trying to come up with all kinds of quick-and-easy advice for folks who are going through the "bad stuff" of life.  Even though our intentions may be good, sometimes our words are empty and dry.  Bottom line, the truest comfort for those answer-less times is simply Jesus.

This song is so neat, because it offers the simplest but surest solution to all of the great crises of our lives:  crying out to Jesus.   Click here to watch the music video. You'll be blessed!

We Love CHOC--When we Don't Have to Be There

As many of you know already, Haley is now having her turn at CHOC--the Children's Hospital of Orange County.

Yesterday Curtis and Kristi thought everything was on the mend. Curtis had brought Lexi home late Thursday night. She had responded like a trooper to the IVs, and doctors ruled out the possibility of a urinary track infection. (After she left the hospital, they finally were able to confirm that all her problems were from Roto Virus.

Haley had gone through all the same symptoms, but they'd made sure she'd continued to drink plenty of fluids and eat potassium-rich bananas.

Sooo, when they all woke up yesterday (Friday) morning, everything seemed to be on an upward turn. After noon, however, Haley's situation took a sharp turn to new territory--distended stomach, abdominal pain, violent vomiting, etc. Kristi's blog gives all the details.

As of this writing, Haley's still in the hospital. Hopefully, before the day is over we'll know exactly what's up, and she'll be discharged. Grandma Connie, Granddad Bruce, Mama Lyn, and I (Papa Don) spent last night helping Kristi de-germ their entire house. Washed, wiped, and sprayed every possible surface and toy with Lysol and Clorox products. Kristi and I left the "party" to go up to CHOC to be with Haley and Curtis for a few hours.

Haley was a real trooper. Curtis said she only cried out once when they inserted the IV stint. No whimpering or fussing at all. (Lyn and I were with Curtis and Haley earlier in the afternoon when the Ambulance/Fire truck took her away to the hospital. She was a quiet little soldier then as well. No apparent fear or worry. Of course, she had Sully [Monsters Inc.] and a great little stuffed dog the firemen gave her to give her solace!)

We're all definitely hoping and praying that next week will be noisily normal!

Thanks again for all your prayers for the princesses!